Preventing Opioid Misuse Through Safe Opioid Use Agreements Between Patients and Surgical Providers

Preventing Opioid Misuse Through Safe Opioid Use Agreements Between Patients and Surgical Providers

The effect of pain agreements to reduce opioid misuse is an accepted practice in many settings, but it has never been applied to the acute care setting. Pain agreements are considered the standard of care for chronic pain management reliant on opioid prescribing, and they are a mandated component of care in many states. Therefore, the adjunct of safe opioid use agreements into acute pain management offers a logical extension of current practices from chronic pain management.

This study will test the use of agreements to improve safe opioid use to prevent misuse and opioid-related harm.

Inclusion Criteria:

Adult patients (at least 18 years of age), of any gender, who speak English or Spanish, undergoing general surgery procedures with a high likelihood of receiving an opioid prescription (bariatric, inguinal hernia, or ventral hernia), who have their preoperative appointment at UT Physicians Health Center at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Medical Plaza, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Bellaire

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with a known allergy or contra-indication to opioids, pregnancy, signification cognitive impairment, history of opioid misuse/abuse, chronic opioid use, readmission before the follow up appointment